Try Talking!
by aeternus aenigma
Summary: Talking really does solve everything....if you can get the person to talk to you! L/S. Complete!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** This is my first attempt at a Cold Case fic, I've written other stuff but this is a new one for me. No real plot, just had an idea and it bounced around until I wrote it down. Why do fics always have to pop into existence when there are other pressing matters (such as assignments) to attend to?? Anyway, hope it provides some entertainment.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it, wouldn't mind owning Scotty though ;)

**Chapter 1**

Kat Miller looked around the quiet office, where had everyone gone? Was she that engrossed in her work?

The sound of footsteps interrupted her thoughts as a stranger entered the office. Kat watched as a young girl, well, she could have been anything between late teens and twenties, walked in. The girl had shoulder length dark hair, startling green eyes, wearing a red tartan mini, black top, with thick tights and boots. Not the usual look to walk into homicide.

"Uh, hi, is Lilly Rush around?"

"I'm not sure where she is at the moment. Can I help you?" Kat replied wondering if a new case was about to fall into their hands.

Before the girl had a chance to respond Scotty Valens walked in with a thunderous look on his face and slumped in his chair, completely ignoring the other two. Kat offered the girl a small, almost apologetic smile.

"Scotty, have you seen Rush?" Kat asked after taking a deep breath, Scotty was not looking amused.

He gave a dry laugh, "I'm sure the ice- queen is around here someplace. If the temperature drops a few degrees you'll know she's arrived."

Kat glared at him, while whilst the girl backed up a bit. Knowing Lilly the way she did, the guy was obviously in bad books!

"And you are?" Scotty added, finally noticing an unfamiliar person in the room.

The Girl was saved from answering by the entrance of Nick Vera and Will Jeffries.

"Well, this is a surprise" Will smiled, "Lil know you're here?"

"No, I just got here. Figured I'd drop by and surprise her."

"You're brave" Scotty quipped dryly.

"Wow, you always this pleasant?" the girl quipped back, sarcasm evident in her voice.

"Okay, settle down kids" Will took control before a situation emerged.

"Aw, what cha do that for?" Nick complained, whilst moving to his desk.

* * *

The girl went over to Will's desk, him and Vera she knew. The other two were unfamiliar, but it was quiet last time she dropped by to see Lilly. She figured the quick tempered one was Scotty Valens, Lilly's partner, hadn't met him before, but heard a lot about him, from both Lilly and Christina. Maybe the latter she should keep to herself.

"The office is busier than the last time I was here" the girl commented to Will.

"Sorry we missed you, it's been quite a while" Will answered.

"Bout three years. Been keeping busy, and outta trouble."

They're conversation was interrupted by the appearance of Kat Miller, "I feel out of the loop, you know everyone?"

"I'm a friend of Lilly's, I only know Will and Vera, and Stillman. He still here?" the girl replied looking around the office.

"Yeah, he is. I'm Kat Miller"

"Jodie Kendrick" the girl shook Kat's hand, "Nice to meet you, Lilly's mentioned you before."

"Watch out, temperatures about to hit freezing" Scotty muttered, noticing Lilly about to walk in.

Vera coughed to hide his amusement, whilst Kat and Jeffries sent disapproving glares in his direction.

"That's Scotty Valens" Kat huffed.

Scotty looked up hearing his name mentioned, "He's Lil's partner, right?"

"Yeah, I am, you got a name?"

"Jodie Kendrick. I'm a friend of Lilly's."

"And she ain't scared you off, or pushed you away yet?" Scotty feigned a look of surprise.

Jodie walked over to Scotty's desk and perched on the end of it. "I've known Lilly a long time; she's like a sister to me. Helped sort my life out when things got a bit wild. I've heard a lot about you Valens."

"Rush talks about me, tore me to pieces no doubt?"

"No, she didn't. Anyway I didn't hear about you only from Lilly. I believe the phrase was 'if you're going there, see if Lil's still working with hottie Scotty'" Jodie gave Scotty a knowing look.

Before Scotty could formulate an answer Lilly walked in, having finished a conversation outside the door.

"Jodie! Hey, what you doing here? Not that is isn't great to see you." Lilly smiled at her young friend. Although the smile turned frosty as Lilly's eyes moved from Jodie to Scotty.

Lilly thought of the girl as a sister, hell, she'd been a better friend and confidante than her real sister had ever been despite there being over ten years in age difference.

"I thought I'd drop by. I've been summoned to DC for my fathers 50th, decided if I'm in this direction might as well say hi, seen as it's been ages!" Jodie replied. "Was gonna grab you for lunch or something."

"Lunch is good; I'll just grab my coat. Kat, you wanna come with?"

"Sure, if you don't mind" Kat replied.

Scotty glared after them as they left, how could Lilly be all smiles in one breath and ice- queen in the next? It was her fault he was mad, and apparently it was his fault she was mad.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"So, what happened?" Jodie prompted as the girls sat down for lunch.

"What happened to what?" Lilly replied, trying to avoid the conversation she knew was coming.

"You and Scotty Valens. Last time we spoke, well…emailed, which I may add was only two weeks ago, you said the two of you were getting on really well. And back there was so not even close to getting on" Jodie watched Lilly closely.

"Yeah, what did happen?" Kat added, "Valens is in one hell of a mood and girl, those daggers you had in your eyes coulda killed."

"Nothing happened" Lilly protested, well that wasn't true for a start a little voice muttered in her head. "We had a bit of an argument" she continued after receiving disbelieving looks from Kat and Jodie.

"This goes beyond one of your arguments; even Vera has noticed something's up, and he has the emotional sense and range of a brick." Kat tried gently.

"How long has this been going on?" Jodie asked.

"Three days" Lilly admitted.

"Well, the two of you were fine Friday so something musta happened over the weekend" Kat thought out loud.

* * *

"So Valens, still trouble in paradise?" Nick Vera quipped.

"Shut up Vera" Scotty snapped.

"What cha screw up this time?" Vera shifted in his chair.

"I said drop it, ok!" Scotty bit out clenching his fists.

At that moment Scotty's phone rang, preventing the awkward silence that would inevitably followed that outburst. The phone call was Scotty's brother letting him know he was downstairs to meet him for lunch. Scotty announced he was leaving, would be back in an hour and to reach him on his cell if need be.

* * *

"So what's up bro? Said ya needed to talk" Mike asked as the two sat in a local pub.

Scotty sighed, "Yeah, I think I screwed up."

"What did you do to her this time; I take it we're talking 'bout Lilly?"

"How'd you know it's 'bout Lil?" Scotty looked surprised.

"When are you gonna stop acting like a love- sick teenager and tell her how you feel?" Mike asked.

"That's parta what me in this mess in the first place" Scotty sulked, "An' now everything's all screwy, me n Lil are just snipping at each other, an she got the whole ice- queen act goin' on, I just don't know how ta fix it, you know."

"Ok, bro. I can't help ya if ya don't tell me what happened. What you did wrong" Mike stressed.

Scotty ran his hand through his hair and drew a deep breath, "I didn't think it was wrong. I mean, things were goin' well, we were havin' a good time, then…"

"Then what, Scotty? You're doin' a good job of avoiding things here"

"I almost kissed her, ok, or we almost kissed each other. I'm not entirely sure" Scotty admitted, glad to finally tell someone.

"That it?" Mike grinned, it was about time something happened.

"Not helping Mikey" Scotty huffed.

"Ok, ok. Give me a minute; we'll come up with something. I was expecting something more, well…more."

* * *

"Lil, are you gonna tell us what happened over the weekend, or just pretend everything's fine and it's not the emotional equivalent of the Antarctic in the office?" Jodie asked, still trying to suss out what actually had gone wrong with Lilly and Scotty.

"Fine" Lilly huffed. "Scotty asked me to a hockey game coz he had tickets, so we went, had a good time, and got dinner and afterwards. It was still kinda early when he dropped me home, so we watched a couple of movies at mine. We were getting on well, probably a bit flirty and next thing I know we were way too close."

"So you ended up making out" Jodie fiddled with a napkin.

"No, I realised what was happening and pulled back" Lilly admitted quietly.

"That's it?!" Kat exclaimed. "You didn't even kiss the guy"

"No" Lilly sighed.

Kat and Jodie looked at her incredulously; all this fuss was because they nearly kissed? Both girls had thought a much more intimate scenario had occurred. So why was there a problem, neither had done anything wrong. Kat asked as much.

"I got scared, ok" Lilly looked down. "This is Scotty, my partner, was my best friend. I didn't want to ruin anything."

"And the rest of it, I know you Lil, there's more to this" Jodie said softly.

"Would you look at the time, we need to get back" Lilly stated, cutting off any further discussion.

"This isn't over Rush" Kat warned, determined to get to the bottom of this mess.

* * *

"Hey, man, I gotta get back to work, any ideas on what I should do 'bout Lil?" Scotty started to move.

"Sorry, bro. You could try talking to her" Mike answered not really knowing what to suggest.

"Yeah, that's really gonna work" Scotty muttered getting ready to back to the office.

**A/N:**I should have these chapters up pretty quickly, so let me know what you think...please :)


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you to my reviewers JordynMM and FloatingAmoeba, you guys are great! Hope you like the next chapters.

Chapter 3

The afternoon went much the same as the morning, the temperature of the room failed to get past freezing as Lilly and Scotty continued to avoid each other. The lack of new cases did not help the situation either as it meant the whole team was in the bullpen all day doing paperwork.

"Gonna need thermals tomorrow if they keep it up" Vera quipped to Jeffries as the two were about leave for the night.

"Well, I will see you all in the morning" Jeffries said as he left.

Vera not far behind let with the parting shot "play nice kids", made Lilly, Scotty and Kat all glare at him.

"I'm of too" Kat gave Lilly an apologetic look. "Need to get Veronica from my mom's."

This left just Scotty and Lilly both trying not to look at the other or do or say the wrong thing. Neither wanted to be the first to leave, as neither was sure what to say. After an hour of awkwardness Scotty went to the archive room to replace some paperwork, he needed to get out of there. Lilly took the opportunity to leave quickly, feeling slightly guilty about sneaking out like thus but just didn't know what else to do.

* * *

Two days later and things were still the same.

"Morning Scotty" Kat greeted as she walked in the following morning. "Is Rush in yet?"

"Yeah, she's here" he bit out.

Okay, so things were still tense, this was getting ridiculous Kat thought. Why couldn't the two of them get passed this?

"Warmed up yet?" Vera motioned towards Scotty as he passed Kat.

"Will you cut it out, and no, it's still chilly."

Scotty made his way to the archives again with some paperwork, but as he was walking down the steps Lilly was walking up. He decided that it was about time to sort this out.

"Hey, can we talk?"

"I got work to do Valens" Lilly glanced at him coolly and continued up the stairs.

Scotty took a deep breath, he was willing to try, why wasn't she? And why did she insist on being so cold? It's not as if they slept together, and if he was honest, he wished he had at least kissed her that night. At least then he'd know what he'd done.

* * *

Lilly walked into the ladies room and took a deep breath; she could have kicked herself. There Scotty was trying to sort things out, and there she was being a bitch. And she wasn't sure why…well, she knew damn well why, but it was easier not to admit it. When he'd looked at her with those deep chocolate eyes of his, Lilly felt her heart rate kick up a notch and just panicked.

Why was this so difficult for her? She wasn't a teenager, she'd had relationships. All of which ended badly a little voice told her. But this was different, this was Scotty. Her partner, who'd always been there, whom she could trust, and Lilly did not want to lose that friendship. She'd wanted him to kiss her that night, hell, she still wanted it, but that in itself forced her protective barriers to go up. If she kept him out, he couldn't leave…and break her heart.

* * *

"Thought you'd got lost" Jeffries commented watching Scotty finally return from the archives.

"Nah, finished some stuff down there. Better atmosphere."

"Have you tried talking to her?" Jeffries tried tentatively, sometimes he felt like the only adult.

"Yeah, and it's like trying to run up a hill on roller skates. Look, I tried, ball's in her court now."

* * *

Lilly was now trying even harder to avoid Scotty after dismissing him earlier, so decided to hide out at the back of the archives room whilst Scotty was in the bullpen. It was quiet there, she could think.

Meanwhile, things were a bit easier upstairs with out the two in the same room.

"Things settled down yet?" Jodie asked Kat as she perched on her desk.

"Hey, girl. Nope, they've taken to being in separate rooms. The latest is, Valens tried to talk to her but Lil went all ice-queen on him."

"I have a feeling I know what the problem is. Actually, everyone probably knows what the problem is, she won't admit it though. Know where Lil is?" Jodie sighed.

Kat shook her head, she guessed she was in the archives room, hiding out. Jodie walked over to Scotty's desk whilst Kat finished her report.

"Hey Scotty, you Ok?"

"Hi Jodie" Scotty quietly sorted some sheets of paper.

"Lil giving you a hard time? Don't worry, she'll work it out soon" Jodie smiled. "You like her don't you?"

"Jodie, I don't want to talk about it" Scotty sighed, was it that obvious how he felt? Jodie had only known him a few days, unless she knew something he didn't. "She won't listen, I tried."

"Don't give up on her Scotty. I know Lil can be hard work, just, please try again" Jodie pleaded squeezing Scotty's hand.

"Great" the two heard Kat breath exasperated.

"What's up with you?" Vera turned in his seat.

"Veronica's babysitter's just let me know that she can't get her from school. The school's closing early today, in about half hour, for some meeting." Kat dropped her pen down with some force.

"Why don't you ask boss if you can go get her, can't your mom take her?" Jeffries commented.

"My mom's staying with a friend, won't be back til tomorrow."

"If you can go get her, she can stay with me for the rest of the day. I'm not doing anything" Jodie offered.

"Really? Thanks Jodie. I'll be back in a bit, just have to tell boss." Kat said gratefully.

* * *

"So, anything you really wanna do?" Jodie turned to Veronica as they out of the Police Department.

The young teenager grinned, "can we go pig out on a huge ice-cream?"

Jodie grinned back, "me and you are gonna get on great."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Lilly came up from the archives some time later, still working on what to do about the state of affairs between herself and Scotty. Standing at the doorway to the office she noticed the atmosphere seemed much less fraught than it had earlier and was slightly reluctant to go in. Before she entered, she heard Scotty say he was popping out for a bit, feeling slightly relieved that she wouldn't have to face him quite yet, Lilly waited until he left before she went back to her desk.

"Welcome back, thought you'd abandoned us" Kat smiled.

"Think she waited til he left" Vera quipped, earning a glare from Kat.

"Probably got more work done than you Vera" Lilly shot as Vera huffed in his chair.

* * *

"So kiddo, we better get you back" Jodie said, walking out of the pizza parlour.

"Thanks for taking me out all afternoon. I like you better than my regular babysitter."

The two headed for the Police department along the darkening streets of Philadelphia talking and joking, not realising that they were being watched from the shadows.

As they walked past a secluded alleyway an arm snaked out of the depths latching onto Jodie. Veronica gasped unable to scream through fear as two large men appeared before them.

As the second assailant dove for Veronica, Jodie wrenched herself out of the grasp of her attacker, striking him in the face with the heel of her palm sending him into the one going after Veronica, who dodged the disorientated form.

Clearly angry and surprised, he lunged for Jodie instead, who now stood in front of the younger girl.

"Run Veronica! Get to your mom, now! Go!"

The younger girl didn't need to be told again, she took off not looking back. It was only a bit further.

* * *

Meanwhile Jodie dodged the second assailant, but failed to avoid the blow coming from the direction of the one she'd already hit. Stunned she reeled backwards into the wall.

"Well, Well. Looks like we got a fighter" came a voice that made Jodie's insides crawl. "Shall we show her what happens to little girls who don't play nice?"

The two men advanced on her, each with a menacing glint in their eyes. Jodie stuck out, kicking one in the groin, sending him to the floor like a lead balloon. The remaining attacker was more fortunate and slammed her head into the wall and put in a punch to the stomach, moments before pinning Jodie to the wall.

Jodie felt herself about at the passing out stage; she hoped with everything that Veronica had managed to get back to the department. Having been punched in the ribs and re-slammed into the wall, she was losing strength fast, so did the next best thing she could, she screamed…loud.

"Jesus Christ" the attacker flinched at the piercing decibel.

Just as her legs gave way, Jodie heard a familiar voice.

"Scotty!" she got out as she hit the hard concrete.

* * *

Scotty was on his way back from a wrap up interview of a recent case, he used the walk to clear his head and think of another means of salvaging his working relationship with Lilly.

As he rounded a corner he thought he saw someone or something dragged into an alleyway, he picked up his pace and headed in that direction. Scotty had almost reached the scene when he heard a scream, breaking into a run, he reached the alleyway. His blood ran cold as he recognised the limp form about to hit the deck.

"Jodie, hang on! Police freeze!"

He heard her weak recognition of his voice, and was almost bowled over by one of the attackers trying to get away, one seemed stuck on the floor already. Ignoring standard procedure, Scotty slammed his fist across the face of the attacker forcing him to the ground.

* * *

Hearing fast footsteps, Scotty looked up to see two uniformed officer coming in his direction, he immediately left the assailants and ran to Jodie.

"Jodie! Jodie, sweetie can you hear me?"

He had to help her; she was like a sister to Lilly. He shook the girl gently and gathered her into his lap.

"Come on Jodie, wake up"

Jodie heard someone calling her name. She opened her eyes to see Scotty with a panicked expression.

"I'm ok, Scotty. Thank you" she breathed softly.

Scotty lifted the girl into his arms and started to make his way to where a car could easily get her. She needed to go to the hospital, Lilly'd want to be with her.

He hadn't got far and was met by Lilly and Kat running full force at him. Vera wasn't far behind glaring at anyone daring to look at him.

"Oh my God, Jodie!" Lilly gasped seeing her young friend in such a state.

Lilly reached for her hand and wiped some hair from her face, tears evident in her crystalline eyes. The sight almost broke Scotty's heart.

"I'm Ok Lil, Scotty saved me" Jodie smiled weakly, then shot her head up, "Veronica, where is she? Did she get to you? I'm so sorry Kat"

"Hey, Veronica's with Jeffries. She's shaken up and real worried about you" Kat touched Jodie's hair comfortingly. "You made sure my baby got away, thank you."

"Hey, she Ok?" Vera finally caught up.

"She's pretty banged up" Scotty said quietly.

"I'll take her to get checked out at the hospital" Lilly got her car keys out of her pocket, shaking slightly.

Noticing Lilly's state, Scotty offered to drive them. Lilly declined the offer at first, and then reluctantly agreed as they got to the car, so that one of them could keep an eye on Jodie.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Scotty had been sitting in the waiting room, for what seemed like hours wondering what was happening behind the closed doors. He was pulled from is musings by the sound of familiar voices approaching.

"How is she?" Kat looked carefully at Scotty.

He ran a hand through his hair, "I dunno, ain't heard nothing."

"Mom, where's Jodie, I wanna see her" Veronica was looking around trying to spot her new friend.

It was at that moment Lilly walked into the room looking more composed than she had previously.

"She'll be fine. Nothing broken; just a lot of bruises, and some concussion."

"Can I see her?" Veronica asked eagerly.

"She's been asking about you" Lilly smile at the younger girl.

Kat and Veronica left the waiting area, leaving Lilly and Scotty alone. Lilly stared at the floor as Scotty looked out of the window. Lilly took a deep breath, she had to speak to Scotty at some point, especially considering that he'd not only saved the girl she thought of as a sister, but also drove them to the hospital even though they weren't on speaking terms…which technically was her fault, he did try, but she messed that up.

"Uh, Scotty. Thanks, for all you did for Jodie, and for driving us here."

Scotty did a double take; did Lilly actually just talk to him first? He looked at her small frame, the uncertainty, and fear in her striking blue eyes, and knew this was hard for her.

"No problem, has Jodie gotta stay or they letting her go?" Scotty was careful not to say anything that may upset the blonde detective.

Lilly observed the tight set of her partner's body, he was stressed, most likely her fault, she thought. Okay Rush, all ya gotta do is apologise for blowing him off earlier, when he tried to talk to you, Lilly thought calmly.

Scotty watched conflicting emotions pass over Lilly's face then looked away quickly as she caught his gaze. It's up to her, Scotty told himself as the tension between them escalated once again.

"She can come home in a couple of hours as long as there is some one with her overnight" Lilly finally answered the question trying to keep her tone casual and looking out of the window to avoid that penetrating, dark gaze of his.

No matter how she tried the thoughts of talking properly to Scotty would not materialise out of her mouth. They'd been in the same room alone long enough, Lilly needed to go.

"I'd better get back, told Jodie I'd get her a drink"

* * *

Whilst Lilly went to get some drinks, Scotty went to find Jodie.

"Hey Scotty" Jodie beamed as he walked into the small side room.

"Hi sweetie, how you doin?"

"Good…well, good as can be expected. I can go home later. I wanted to say thank you again, for saving me. If you hadn't of been there…"

"Don't say that, don't even think that" Scotty took hold of the girl's hand, "did you see Veronica, see was dying to see ya."

Jodie knew he was trying to redirect her train of thought, he really was sweet, "yeah, I saw her. She's a good kid, handling the situation real good. All I hoped for was that she got away, and got to Kat, she did better; got uniformed cops on her way!"

Jodie observed Scotty; he looked tired, worn out. How could Lilly not see how luck she was to have him in her life? Jodie knew Lilly was just wary, and uncertain of how to deal with her feelings towards the male detective. But Lil so needed to tell him that. All this drama was making Jodie's head feel worse.

"Lil speaking to you yet?"

Scotty gave a sad smile, "Kinda, well, only about how you were doin."

Footsteps approaching brought their conversation to a halt.

"Got your drink" Lilly put the cold soda down on the table making sure she didn't get too close to her partner.

"I'd better be off, let me know when you wanna be picked up" Scotty stood up glancing at Lilly.

"Thanks, but we'll get a cab. May not be able to go for a few hours yet" Lilly spoke softly.

Scotty raised his dark eyes to Lilly's blue ones, "It don't matter what time it is, call me and I'll come get you, Ok?" he directed the last part at Jodie.

"Thanks Scotty." The girl smiled as the dark haired detective left.

* * *

When he'd left Lilly huffed and plopped down by her young friend, "You're not helping matters."

"And you're making them worse. That poor guy is trying real hard to make things right with you, and you just keep stone- walling him" Jodie shifted and looked Lilly right in the eye, fixing her with a bright green gaze, "You obviously like him otherwise you'd be over this by now. By ignoring the situation you're hurting both of you."

"I don't know what to say to him" Lilly fiddled with the edge of the bed cover, "I'm afraid to mess everything up and lose him completely."

Lilly's voice was so soft that Jodie could not help but feel sorry for her friend, "I know you find this hard, but the colder you are, the more likely you are to lose him. Don't let fear screw this up."

Lilly smiled despite herself, her young friend was being way too insightful, "you been reading self help crap?"

"Not a chance, but I did sound quite intelligent then" Jodie grinned opening her drink.

"I suppose there's a first time for everything" Lilly quipped back, feeling better than she had all day.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"How's Jodie doing?" Kat asked as she and Lilly walked into the office Monday morning.

"Much better, the bruising's gonna take a while to go down. How's veronica coping?"

Kat shook her head, "really well, dunno if I'd have been as calm at her age. We got more than paperwork to do today?"

Lilly looked at the papers on her desk, "there are a couple of interviews we could do."

"Let's go then."

* * *

Kat and Lilly got back to the Police Department just before lunch. As they walked in they caught sight of Scotty talking to a woman with long dark hair wearing a short skirt, cleavage enhancing top, and a little too much make up.

"Wow, she spray paint that on" Lilly muttered darkly, hating the feeling of jealousy niggling in her chest at the way this woman was running her hand down Scotty's arm.

"That outfit or the make- up?" Kat looked equally unimpressed at having to watch the woman throw herself at a member of their team.

The two continued up to the bullpen unnoticed by Scotty, deciding to write up their reports before lunch. An hour and a half later Lilly glanced at the clock on her desk, an hour had passed and her body was protesting the lack of caffeine in her system. Kat had gone for lunch a bit earlier with Vera and Jeffries whilst Lilly had decided to finish some more paperwork. Lilly decided coffee was in order and some form of food wouldn't hurt either.

She made her way to the nearby deli, passing a small café that often went in if having lunch with one of the team. The sight she saw made Lilly stop and feel a pang of sadness; Scotty was sitting there and just sitting down opposite was the woman from that morning, who was clearly interested.

A thought suddenly occurred to Lilly, she'd left it too long, been too cold. Maybe if she'd have shown even some slight interest, then her partner might be with her now. Perhaps she'd lost him for good, she hadn't heard from him at all over the weekend after he'd dropped them home, not even to ask how Jodie was doing.

With that thought Lilly lost her appetite and just went back to the office, picking up a large, strong coffee and a cookie at the cart outside the police department. Making her way back into the bullpen she sat at her desk resuming her paperwork, not wanting to think about her life, it was easier to think about someone else's.

* * *

The sound of banter and footsteps ten minutes later alerted her to the arrival of Jeffries, Kat, and Vera.

"You coulda been a bit nicer" Vera glanced at Kat as they walked to their desks.

"I told you, I'd have been nicer if she'd have been smarter. And you weren't exactly looking at her face" Kat sat down at her desk.

"Do I want to know what this is about?" Lilly looked over at Jeffries who was somewhat amused at the banter going on.

"We walked into Scotty downstairs. He was having an interesting conversation with Amber, from accounts."

"So that was her name" Vera quipped, "how the hell does she work in accounts?"

"I think her_ assets_ got her the job" Kat replied, thinking that there was more brain power in a teaspoon than in Amber's head.

Kat noticed Lilly had become quiet and sat on the edge of her desk; Lilly looked up and gave a half smile.

"Is that who we saw him with this morning? I saw them having lunch earlier"

"Yeah, thought Scotty had better taste than that. I thought…never mind" Kat finished her sentence quickly, not wanting to upset Lilly. Kat was sure there was something between Scotty and Lilly, or would be if they could sort things out.

"If that's what he wants" Lilly sighed placing her professional mask of indifference across her face.

Kat smiled sadly, she knew this would make the blonde detective embrace her infamous ice- queen persona so she would not get hurt. _Here we go again_, Kat thought.

* * *

As Kat walked back to her desk Scotty walked into the bullpen looking harassed. Noticing his entrance Lilly made a quick escape to the archives, which didn't go unnoticed by the others.

"I see the screw-up fairy has visited us again" Vera muttered.

"Don't even start" Jeffries cut in before Vera could blow a possible situation all out of proportion.

Two hours later and Scotty was wondering where Lilly had gotten to. Vera and Kat had gone out on an interview, and Jeffries was concentrating hard on some paperwork, he however, couldn't take his mind off his partner. She'd looked fragile when he'd sneaked a glance at her, then that cold façade washed over her beautiful features. Scotty thought things were going to change with them; Lilly had spoken to him at the hospital, and was civil when he dropped her and Jodie home. He'd refrained from calling over the weekend to give her space, instead phoning Kat about Jodie, but today Lilly had not spoken a word to him. And just now she bolted out of the door as soon as she laid eyes on him.

Scotty knew Lilly would have disappeared into the archives, because that's where he'd go; somewhere peaceful to think…and to hide. Maybe he'd just go check on her, see that she's Ok.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Thank you to my reviewers; JordynMM, FloatingAmoeba, fbi- woman, Barbydancer, and lulubell6 fortaking the time to write reviews, you gyus rock! Hope you enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 7

Lilly had lost track of how long she'd been hiding out, on the plus side, she was very close to finishing all her paperwork. But that did mean she'd have less reasons to hide out.

Her musings were interrupted by the sound of an opening door. She hoped it was just someone returning something to a closed file, but something told her it wasn't. Lilly was situated at the very back of the room, so to find her a person would have to be looking. The door opening again signalled the arrival of another person and it wasn't long before Lilly heard voices.

"Detective Valens, what are you doing down here all on your lonesome?"

"Amber, uh, I work homicide, the cold ones. Kinda involves coming down here" Scotty spoke slowly, damn this woman was irritating; she'd been following him around all day, throwing herself at him at every opportunity. Why wouldn't she take a hint?

"What are you doing down here" he continued, looking for a reason to escape, "your department has nothing to do with here."

Amber smiled deviously and tossed her hair around; she was not letting Scotty Valens go easily. She knew he wasn't dating anyone, and he was gorgeous.

"Just taking a walk and saw you come down here, thought we could have a little fun" she purred, moving closer to him.

Scotty made a show of checking his watch, "uh, I gotta be back upstairs. You know, work calls."

"Wouldn't want to get your balls busted by the ice- queen of homicide, she is your partner right? Lilly Rush?" Amber said the name like it left a bitter taste in her mouth; she knew many of the guys in the building would like to have a chance with the captivating detective.

"Yeah, she's my partner. Rush is a damn good detective" Scotty defended.

Amber watched Scotty, so what if he wanted what all the other guys did. She could change his mind, a lot of guys found her irresistible.

"She always that cold and distant? Does she even have a heart? Come on Scotty, you could have anyone you want. What's a couple more minutes?" Amber tried, still purring.

Lilly listened to the conversation, she knew how she came across to other people, hell most of the time she encouraged it, but hearing someone use it as a reason to stay away from her got to her more than she'd like to admit.

Lilly didn't want to hear any more so tried to slip out of the room unnoticed. She was doing well until she got to the door, the sound of it opening made Scotty look around the corner and spot her. Amber's head popped into view with a glare in Lilly's direction, Lilly put on her best ice-queen mask and headed in their direction.

* * *

It suddenly dawned on Scotty that Lilly might have seen him with Amber today, and the way she was throwing herself at him and now her presence in the archives room did not look favourable, maybe that's why she was pissed. Which led him to think that maybe Detective Rush wasn't as unaffected by him as he thought.

Scotty sent Lilly his best puppy-dog pleading look begging her to get him out of his predicament. She felt her resolve weaken, but kept her mask in place. Lilly couldn't help but melt inside when he turned those lethal chocolate eyes on her.

"Valens, this ain't a high school library. We got work to do"

Lilly deliberately ignored Amber, which did not go down too well; she was not accustomed to being ignored.

"Oh, Scotty and I were just talking, you know" Amber smiled seductively at Scotty.

Lilly just looked Amber up and down as if she were insignificant and talking crap. Unamused by Lilly not rising to the bait, Amber stalked off giving Scotty a lingering look, "see you later, Detective Valens".

"Not if I can help it" Scotty muttered darkly as she swept out the door.

"You good, Detective Valens?" Lilly mimicked Ambers tone, earning an exaggerated glare from Scotty.

"That, Detective Rush, ain't funny. That woman is a barracuda."

Lilly just smiled sweetly, collected her work and walked out the door. This was highly unusual for her and confused Scotty completely. What was up with her?

Lilly was all of a sudden happier, her partner wasn't with that…person; there was no other polite way to describe her in Lilly's mind. Although some of the tension had eased between her and Scotty, Lilly was still uncertain over how to proceed next.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Hey Kat, how's it going? How's Veronica doing?" Jodie asked walking into the bullpen.

Kat smiled at the younger woman, "Hey Jodie, things are good. You doing anything tonight?"

Jodie shook her head making Kat smile, "I was wondering if you'd mind staying over mine tonight. Veronica's off school and my mom's busy til twelve so I need someone with her tomorrow morning."

"Sure, it'll be great to see her again."

"You are an angel" Kat carried on shuffling papers on her desk.

Jeffries came over to join in the conversation, closely followed by Vera who didn't want to be left out.

* * *

"So this is what happens when I go away for a week" the voice of John Stillman interrupted the conversation.

"Oh, hey Boss. Just having a discussion" Vera looked at his watch, "thought you were back tomorrow."

"Just got back"

"And checking on us?" Vera quipped.

"Someone has to. Where's Rush and Valens?" Stillman looked around the room for the other two members of the team.

"Probably off ignoring each other" Vera muttered.

Stillman then noticed a different face in the room, "Jodie, nice to see you. Been in an accident?"

* * *

Whilst Stillman was being filled in on recent events, Lilly walked into the bullpen, "welcome back boss, good holiday?"

Two minutes later Scotty walked in. All except Stillman stared; shocked at the instant decrease in tension between Lilly and Scotty.

"What did I miss?" Jodie asked quietly.

"You ain't the only one to miss it" Vera looked between the two partners.

Stillman observed his staff, "do I need to know?"

Kat winced slightly, "more like don't want to know. It'll give you a headache."

* * *

As time was getting on it was decided that the team apart from Stillman, who wanted to get home, would go for dinner and a few drinks. Stillman said his goodbyes and left as the others decided where to go. Lilly, Kat, and Jodie left just before Scotty, Vera, and Jeffries saying that they would meet them at the pub.

"So Scotty" Jeffries walked over to the younger detective's desk, "you and Lil sorted things out?"

Scotty ran his hand through his hair, "honestly, I don't know. One minute she hates me, the next…I don't know what's goin on with her."

"Are we going or what?" Vera motioned towards the door, the other two following behind.

* * *

Jodie was just ahead of Kat and Lilly as they walked towards the foyer of the police department. Before she knew it, Jodie almost walked into a very visible cleavage.

"God, this is not the playboy mansion or the cover of Hustler!"

Amber sneered at the girl, "does my appearance offend you?"

Kat and Lilly caught up and did a double take; did Amber really have to dress like that?

"Girl, we do not want to see what your mother, or plastic surgeon gave you" Kat mentioned, still wondering how this woman kept a job in PPD.

"Jealous that I'm every guy's Miss Right?" Amber shot, more so at Lilly.

"Uh sweetie, you got a bit confused" Lilly said slowly, "it's more like every guy's Miss Right now."

Amber narrowed her eyes, glaring at the three women daring to challenge her. She'd heard the homicide girls could be tough, but she was a world- class bitch.

"Don't talk down to me Ice – Queen. It's not like you can keep a guy. Besides I'm not stupid, I have brain cells."

"You sure they didn't die of neglect and loneliness" Jodie shot back.

The girls didn't notice the appearance of the male homicide detectives until Vera joined in their banter.

"As entertaining as this is, a battle of wits is unfair against an unarmed opponent guys"

Jodie and Kat coughed to hide a laugh as Jeffries and Scotty cringed slightly. Lilly just gave Amber a cold stare daring her to retaliate. Surely not even Amber was dumb enough to take on the cold case squad.

Amber huffed and turned to Scotty putting her hand on his arm, knowing it would annoy the female detectives.

"Detective Valens, are you going to let them keep insulting me?"

Scotty looked at her in amazement, "you're really not too bright are you. Come on guys, let's go."

As they walked away Amber took a deep breath, "Scotty!"

Jeffries shook his head, "he's not interested, take the hint…oh, and stalking is illegal."

The six of them walked out leaving behind, a humiliated Amber and an amused desk officer.

**A/N:** You guys still interested??Should have the next part up tomorrow.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Thanks for keeping the reviews coming, I like reviews!

Chapter 9

"Apparently there have been a number of complaints about Amber. She's working her way through the building" Jeffries told the rest as they sat down to pizza.

"Hopefully she'll work her way out of the building" Kat said what everyone was thinking.

* * *

"Well, I better get going" Kat said getting up from the table a couple of hours later, "my mom wanted to get home early tonight. Jodie, are you coming now or later?"

"Oh, I'll come with you now. Let's grab some ice- cream on the way back."

The two said their goodbyes and left the other four to their drinks. Shortly after Jeffries decided it was time to leave and convinced Vera to do the same in hopes of getting Lilly and Scotty to sort things out more.

* * *

"Think that was done on purpose?" Scotty quipped as he and Lilly watched Jeffries and Vera leave.

Lilly gave a small smile, "I guess it's time I left too."

"Want a ride home?" Scotty offered, hoping that maybe she would finally talk to him.

"No it's ok, I can walk" Lilly put on her coat.

"Come on Lil, its freezing. My car is right around the corner" Scotty tried again.

Lilly finally relented, realising that it was actually very cold outside. Also she noticed that her partner was still trying to make the effort, despite her attempts to avoid being alone with him.

* * *

By the time they'd reached Lilly's apartment she'd come to the decision that things needed to be sorted out. They couldn't go on the way they were, and it was mostly her fault…Ok, it was pretty much all her fault, and she and Scotty were in serious need of a discussion.

"Do you want coffee or something?" Lilly spoke softly not daring to look at the dark haired detective.

Scotty was shocked to say the least; did she just invite him in? This was definitely progress. At first he was unsure of whether to accept, then common sense kicked in, this was Lilly Rush; he may not have this opportunity again if he declined the offer.

"Uh, sure Lil. Coffee'd be great."

Lilly made her way into the kitchen after telling Scotty to make himself comfortable. She needed the space to sort out her thoughts, inviting him in had seemed like a good idea, but now didn't know how to proceed. She settled on taking in the hot drinks and seeing where things went.

Taking a deep breath, Lilly went against all good reasoning and sat on the sofa with Scotty instead of the chair opposite.

"Thanks" Scotty smiled his lopsided smile, making Lilly's heart flutter slightly; this was not a good start.

Scotty took a sip of coffee and waited for the blonde detective to get the conversation going. If she needed time to get things out then he'd allow her that time.

Lilly took another steadying breath, "Scotty, I want to apologise for the way I've been towards you lately."

There, that wasn't so hard, she told herself, hoping not to sound like a right idiot.

"I overreacted to a situation and …." She trailed stumbling over her words, damn this was getting harder.

"Hey, it's ok. I just need to know what I did wrong" Scotty spoke gently, knowing how skittish his partner could be.

"You didn't do anything wrong Scotty" Lilly admitted quietly, "it's my fault. I'm the one who refused to listen when you tried to talk..."

Lilly stopped her babbling and tried again, "I got scared."

Scotty's eyes widened, it must have taken a lot for her to admit that. The female homicide detective did not admit to she was afraid of anything.

"Scared of what?" Scotty asked, then a thought dawned on him; a thought that worried him, "scared of me?"

"NO!" Lilly answered immediately, noticing the look on her partner's handsome face, "I could never be scared of you Scotty. I was scared of losing you, of messing up our friendship."

"What?" Scotty looked confused.

"You're my best friend. I didn't want anything to ruin that. I couldn't stand losing you" Lilly sighed.

"So you pushed me away, and then wouldn't speak to me, even when I tried to sort things out?" Scotty cringed; the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"I'm sorry Scotty" tears were forming in Lilly's crystalline eyes which tugged at Scotty's heart. He moved closer to the blonde detective taking hold of her hand, praying that she wouldn't pull away or clam up.

"Hey, it's ok. You're talking to me now, that's all I care about"

Lilly looked straight into Scotty's captivating eyes, feeling her barriers start to melt. How did he manage to do that to her; just a look and all she can think about is being in his arms.

"It all just got out of hand, the more I wanted to talk to you, the less I could think of to say, and then I thought that maybe you wouldn't want anything to do with me, after all I am the ice queen of homicide."

"Don't say that, you're amazing. You're strong, beautiful, and one of the best detectives around" Scotty still had hold of her hand and was running his thumb lightly over her fingers.

"So you don't hate me then?" Lilly gave a small smile.

"Hate you, God no. I…" Scotty stopped himself before he really damaged their tentative relationship.

Lilly felt her flutter uncontrollably at his hands caressing hers, it made concentrating on what he was saying quite hard. At least he didn't hate her after her behaviour towards him. Although they had been on better speaking terms that day, she felt much better now they had talked things through.

Noticing the faraway look in his partners eyes, Scotty hoped she hadn't caught on to what he was about to say. She seemed more relaxed, as he stopped his ministrations on her hands Lilly brought her eyes back to his.

The two sat there for a moment eyes locked neither wanting to break the spell that seemed to have been cast upon them. Scotty's other hand slowly moved to brush a piece of golden hair from Lilly's face bringing his hand back to gently caress her cheek.

"Scotty…" what was meant to come out as a warning sounded more like a breathless plea.

"Close your eyes" Scotty whispered softly never moving his hand from her face.

Lilly's breath became unsteady as she continued to fall into her partners gaze, "I…" the words she wanted just would not come.

"Just do it Rush" breathed against her ear, wondering how he'd managed to stay this close for so long.

**A/N:** Tiny, little cliff-hanger for you. Last part hopefully will be up tomorrow!


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Okay guys, here it is, the last part of the story. Thank you so much to my reviewers, you make me smile! Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 10

Against all logic and reason Lilly allowed her eyes to close, savouring the feeling of Scotty's gentle caress on her face and breath at her ear. Slowly, the hand that was on her face threaded softly into her hair and down to the back of her neck. Lilly was glad she was sitting down at this point and Scotty although appearing calm was anything but.

At any moment he was waiting for a classic Lilly reaction; to pull away and say it was a mistake. When she stayed there with her eyes closed his heart thundered in his chest, could she feel the same way about him?

Ever so slowly Scotty leant his head towards Lilly's, stopping briefly before brushing a ghost of a kiss over her lips.

* * *

Lilly felt Scotty's presence grow closer; she knew what was coming and for once didn't want to run a mile in the opposite direction. She wanted to know what it was like to kiss Scotty Valens; she'd been dreaming of it for long enough, even if she didn't want to admit it.

As his lips whispered a kiss over hers, Lilly's heart rate went into overdrive. She gasped, her eyes flying open to fall once again into those chocolate brown eyes. Of its own volition, Lilly's fingertips moved to touch the lips that had just been upon hers.

"Scotty" this time the breathless voice was laced with desire.

"Lil, I…" Scotty ran his hand through his hair.

"Close your eyes" Lilly cut him off, eyes hazy.

"Huh?" Scotty had an adorable look of confusion on his face.

"Just do it Valens" Lilly used his own line on him.

Scotty grinned, and did as she asked. With a feather light touch, Lilly traced Scotty's face before bringing her lips to his in a kiss filled with a longing and need that took his breath away. When Scotty returned the kiss with equal passion Lilly would have melted in to a puddle if it were not for Scotty's strong arms holding her close.

* * *

The two parted when there was a vital need for oxygen. Flushed and breathless, Lilly cast her eyes downwards, shocked at the intensity; no-one made her feel that way. Scotty placed his hand under her chin, tilting Lilly's head up so their gazes met.

"Wow" he breathed looking deeply into her azure blue eyes.

"Yeah" Lilly was speechless for some time, "what happens now?"

"Now, it's up to you" Scotty said running his thumb over her cheek, "I've wanted to do that for a long time, but if you feel it was a mistake, then I'll respect that."

Lilly observed her partner, the one who was always there for her, made her heart race and when he held her, made her feel more safe and protected than she ever had in her life.

* * *

Scotty was worried by her prolonged silence; was she thinking of ways to let him down gently? He hoped not because that kiss had meant more to him than anything, and she'd responded.

"It's ok if you don't feel the same Lil" Scotty fiddled with a cushion edge, "I'll just see you tomorrow."

When Lilly didn't respond straight away, Scotty started to get up, wondering if he had just made the biggest mistake of his life.

As Scotty started to move, his words sunk in jolting Lilly back to reality. She reached for his hand and looked into his eyes, "stay. Please stay with me."

Scotty's eyes widened, she actually wanted him to stay. As it was getting late Lilly led him to her bedroom, she wanted him to hold her, make her feel safe. After getting ready for bed Scotty climbed in next to her and took her in his arms, Lilly smiled as she laid her head on his chest; his erratic heartbeat matched her own.

"Scotty?" Lilly ran her hand over his toned chest.

"Yeah, Lil" as good as it felt, Lilly's hands were doing nothing to calm his racing heart.

"Thanks"

"What for?" Scotty was once again confused; she seemed to have that effect on him.

"Not giving up on me" Lilly admitted.

"I'd never give up on you" Scotty placed a soft kiss on her hair, I love you, but he wouldn't say that yet.

Lilly raised herself up, leaned over him and placed her lips over his. What started out as a tender kiss, soon became more of an electric storm as the two found each other's kisses addictive, each one more passionate than the next, with hands and lips exploring what they'd only ever dreamed of doing.

* * *

A while later Lilly and Scotty were still reluctant to let go of each other.

"Scotty, I'm glad you stayed" Lilly placed a kiss on his neck.

"Me too" he replied holding her tighter.

Lilly woke up the following morning with a smile on her face, wrapped in Scotty's arms.

"Mornin' beautiful" Scotty smiled sleepily.

"Hey" she replied caressing his cheek.

She took a deep breath, things were definitely looking up. If this was what being in love with Scotty felt like, she did not want it to end, and by the way he was holding her, the feeling was mutual.

"Scotty, can we keep this between us for now? You know what the guys are like" Lilly looked up into Scotty's eyes.

"Whatever you want, I don't mind keepin' it quiet" Scotty kissed the top of her head as she relaxed back into his arms, wanting to stay like that always.

**A/N:** I'm working on a sequel, will hopefully finish before Christmas. Thanks for reading x


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